Combined flasher arrangement for controlling low and high tension circuits of an electric installation for drawing and writing neon signs



May 2, 1962 I F. H. WEIDEMANN 3, 3

COMBINED FLASHER ARRANGEMENT FOR CONTROLLING LOW AND HIGH TENSION CIRCUITS OF AN ELECT RIC INSTALLATION FOR DRAWING AND WRITING NEON SIGNS Filed Dec. 23, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 M y 22, 1962 H F. H. WEIDEMANN 3,036,179

COMBINED FLASHER ARRANGEMENT FOR CONTROLLING LOW AND HIGH TENSION CIRCUITS OF A N ELECTRIC INSTALLATION FOR DRAWING AND WRITING NEON SIGNS Filed Dec. 25, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 H, F. H. WEIDEMANN 3,036,179 COMBINED FLASHER ARRANGEMENT FOR CONTROLLING LOW AND HIGH TENSION CIRCUITS OF AN ELECTRIC INSTALLATION FOR DRAWING AND WRITING NEON SIGNS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 May 22, 1962 COMBINED CIRCUITS AN ELE DRAWING AND WRITI Filed Dec. 25, 1957 'H F. H. WEIDEMANN 3, FLASHER ARRA MENT FOR CONTROLLING LOW AND HIGH TENSION 1c INSTALLATION FOR NEON SIGNS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 May 22, 1962' H. F. H. WEIDEMANN 3,036,179

COMBINED FLASHER ARRANGEMENT FOR CONTROLLING LOW AND HIGH TENSION CIRCUITS OF AN ELECTRIC INSTALLATION FOR DRAWING AND WRITING NEON SIGNS Filed Dec. 25, 1957 s Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent CGMBINED FLAfiHER ARRANGEMENT-FOR CQN- TRGLLiNG LOW ANDHIGH TENSIQNTCERCUITS OFAN ELECTREC INSTALLATION FQR DRAW- ING AND WRITING NEON SIGNS Hans Friedrich Harald Weidemann, Hegestieg 12, Hamburg 29, Germany Filed Dec. 23, 195'], Ser. No. 704,682 '5 Claims. (Cl. 200-118) In the case of electric installations for writing and/or drawing neon luminous signs, one or more high'tension luminous tubes or tubes of luminous material are provided. In the following description these are briefly referred to as tubes. The sections of the tubes between the electrodes are successively switched on by means of a rotary'flasher arrangement driven by an elect1ic motor and are subsequently switched off, preferably simultaneously. The sections of the tubes of luminous material are fed from the secondary windings of one or more strayfield transformers over a series of spring contacts (contact path) and one or more movable switching'members of one type forming part of the flasher arrangement, whereas the primary windings of the transformer or transformers are fed from the alternating current network over switching members of a second type.

The object of the invention is primarily to producea combined flasher arrangement for installations of the type mentioned at the outset, by means of which arrangement all necessary switching operations can be carried out automatically both on the 'low' tension'side and also on the high tension side.

Another object of the invention is to equip sucha combined flasher arrangement with safety devicessuch as are necessary in order to switch'off automaticallythe whole installation in the event of a lasting arcoccurring on the switching members of the first type, which maybe due to some breakdown or failure, such as for examplethe-"working loose of a contact or the failure of a neon tube; when breakdowns of this kind occur the full current fromthe hight tension circuit flows over the interrupter point'forming a lasting electrical-c which does not break or go out by itself.

Yet another object of the invention is to construct such a combined flasherarrangement as a rotary mechanical aggregate provided with an electric driving motor, the numerous connections of which aggregate for the leads to the input electrodes of the tubes are so clearly arranged, easily accessible and provided with guides for the individual leads that both the assembly and also the servicing of the installation can be carried out simply and quickly in spite of the large number of connection leads mentioned.

The movable switching members of the first type are, according to the invention, formed by a switch roller, or several such rollers, which bridges (or bridge) 'a .plurality of resilient contacts arranged as a contact path, each contact being connected to an'input electrode of a tube, and successively'leaves (or leave) these contacts'in the course of their rotation; the switching members of the second type controlling'the'low tension circuit are mercury switching tubes which are in'turn controlled by a rotary cam device or control roller which is mounted on the same axle as the switching roller or rollers.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated diagrammatically by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows in front elevation a combined flasher arrangement according to the invention, with two switch rollers; v

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the same arrangement on a larger scale enabling the details to be seen more clearly;

FIG. 3 shows the apparatusillustratedzin FIG. 2 in top plan view;

FIG. -4sis a cross-section taken :on line IVIV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken 'on .line V-V of FIG. 3;

FIG46 shows the-electric wiring-lay-out of a combined flasher arrangement according to the invention and as illustrated in FIGS. .1 to 5, with .two switch rollers and two transformers, and

.FIG. 7 shows a modified form of construction of an arangement according to the invention for an extensive installation' with six switch rollers and six'transformers.

On a bedplate 1 frame walls 2, 3, 4, 5 are arranged for carrying bearings of a rotary shaft 6 which is'connected with an electric motor 8 by a coupling 7 and a gear 9 mounted on the motor 8. The shaft 6 carries switch rollers with coatings 10, 10, and a control roller iL the periphery of which is stepped as shown in FIG...3. Connecting plates 13, 13' are carried by insulators 12 in the frame and on each plate terminal sockets 15- are provided connected with the resilient contacts 16 of the contact path fed from the high tension potential. Leads 17, one'of which is shownin-FIG. 4, extend from the terminal sockets 15 to the terminals 18 of. the input electrodes of the high tension luminous tubes 19, as. shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The control roller 11 controls several mercury switches 21, 21' through the intermediary of adjustablepins 20, theseswitches being connected up in the primary circuits of the transformers 25, 25', as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. A mercuryswitch 22, arranged on a rocker 222, which is controlled by a safety devicein the manner hereinafter described, serves for directly breaking the primary circuits for all transformers in the event of a break-down (FIG. 6) or for controlling a lowtension gate 23 (FIG. 7) by the contacts of which the primary circuits of the transformers are interrupted. At the commencement of a working period the mercury switches 21, 21 are switched on by the control roller.

To enable the sections of the tubes 19to be illuminated successively one or several switching roller coatings 10, 10' are provided for bridging and successively'releasing the contacts 16 forming-the contact path at each working period. Each switch roller coating consists of a pieceof strip metal of curved shape corresponding to the circular periphery of the roller and provided with a rounded off run-on edge 101 extending parallel to a generatrix of the roller and an inclined run-off edge 102 describing a helix on the periphery of the roller and which neednot'be rounded off. The'switch roller coating is carried by circular disks 1030f insulating material fixed on a hollow shaft "104-. This hollow shaft is fixed on the common continuous shaft 6 by means of screws 105 in such an angular position in relation to the control roller 11 that the correct time relationship between the operation of the parts of the switching 'arangement on the low tensionside and those of the high'tension is substantially ensured. The common shaft 6 canbe composed of separate'sections in which case a journal on one section is slipped into -an axial bore in the adjacent section and secured in position by a pin.

The resilient contacts 16 are composed of narrow strips of nickel silver which is provided with a contact head 161 of hard silver. Such a hard silver contact affords a good sliding effect on the copper plate of the switch roller coating 10. The resilient nickel silver contacts 16- are provided with a bend 162 so that in running onto the edge 101 of the switch roller coating 10 when the installation is still switched on, flash-overs, which cause strong flickering in the tubes, are avoided. The contacts 16 are arranged on bars and separated from each other by partitions 164 of high grade insulating material. Owing to the single row arrangement, every contact is easily accessible and exchangeable and, in spite of the compact construction, the necessary creep and striking distances are maintained.

The connection plate 13 carries, as shown in FIG. 3, numbered terminal sockets 15 arranged staggered with gaps. Each individual numbered connection lead 17 is first threaded through the correspondingly numbered hole 151 in a perforated wall 152 standing free from the frame walls, and then connected with the corresponding terminal socket 15, so that each individual socket is easily accessible with a screwdriver and clearly visible from the front and above. The sockets 15 are connected to the fixed ends of the individual contacts 16 underneath the connection plate 13. The connection plate 13 and the contact bar 163 are connected by screws and carried as a structural unit by the insulators 12 and the partition walls 4. The insulators, in spite of short constructional length and high flashover voltage, allow the use of stray-field transformers up to 15,000 v. rated voltage.

The high tension switching points, which are formed by the contact heads 161 and the run-on edges 10d and runoff edges 102 of the switch roller coatings, are in a straight line in the combined flasher arrangement according to the invention. Parallel to this line of switching points a burnthrough or fuse element 30 extends as a safety device in the form of a thread which is spaced at the same relatively short distance from all the switching points so that it will be destroyed in the event of a lasting electric arc occurring on any one of the contacts.

The thread 30 is preferably reversed at the end of the row and thus passes twice along the sides of the contacts above and below these or on the outer and inner sides thereof. (FIGS. 2, 4 and 5.)

This thread consists of electric insulating material, especially a synthetic substance, preferably a polyamide, and is secured :at both its ends 31 and 32 to stationary points of the arrangement so that it is held taut. The carrier 222 of the safety switch 22 mounted on a pivot bearing 221 rests on this thread. If therefore the thread is destroyed at any point, the carrier 222 will swing in clockwise direction (FIG. 5) and the switch 22 breaks the primary current circuit or circuits of the arrangement so that the installation is rendered inoperative.

The mercury switches 21 are mounted on rocker-like carriers 212 which are oscillatable about a pivot bearing 211. These rockers 212 are controlled by the control roller 111 through the intermediary of adjustable pins 20. The exact timing coordination of the switching operations between the stages or cams of the control roller 11 and the switch roller coatings is very simple. As already mentioned, the relative positions of the control roller 11 and the switch roller coating 10 on the common shaft 6 can be chosen as required and then fixed with the aid of set screws 105. Furthermore by lengthening or shortening the adjusting pins 20 by means of the screw thread 200, accurate adjustment of the switching on times can be effected in a simple manner. event of the switching off times having to be accurately set, which cannot easily be effected by raising the mercury switch, a separate mercury switch (not shown in the drawings) with an adjusting pin can be arranged in a similar manner. This is required particularly when the written text produced by the tubing is to be supplemented by In the additional luminous texts or contours formed by tubing, which has to be switched in and out. This can likewise be achieved by introducing switches in the region of the parts of the combined flasher arrangement on the low tension side.

The mountings of the common shaft 6 in the partition walls 2 to 5 made from insulating material, preferably have self-alignment ball bearings 40. By this measure the smooth running of the common shaft cannot be influenced even when the frame is subjected to appreciable stressing.

The housing 50, which in FIG. 6 is indicated by dotdash lines, is in the form of a protective case which can be slipped over the whole arrangement and is provided with plug contacts 51 which act as cut-out switch when the housing is closed and form a connection with the mains network, and when the case is open, disconnect the arrangement from mains thereby producing a greater degree of safety.

I claim:

1. Apparatus comprising a plurality of pairs of switch contacts in a linear array, a single threadlike fusible element positioned along said array and being operatively positioned with respect to said pairs of contacts for being melted by a permanent are occurring at any of the pairs of contacts, and a mercury switch pivotally mounted adjacent said fusible element and being suspended thereby, the melting of said threadlike element due to a permanent arc at any of said contacts releasing said switch.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said threadlike fusible element is a flexible member.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 comprising means for holding said fusible element taut.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said fusible element is a plastic thread.

5. A combined flasherv arrangement for controlling the low and high tension circuits of an electric installation for a neon light sign comprising a low tension supply circuit, a high tension circuit, a plurality of pairs of high tension switch contacts in said high tension circuit arranged as a linear array, and a safety device comprising a single threadlike fusible element positioned along said array and being operatively positioned with respect to said high tension contacts for being melted by a permanent arc occuring at any of the contacts, and a single mercury switch connected in the low tension circuit and pivotally mounted adjacent said fusible element and being supported and-controllable thereby, the melting of said threadlike element due to a permanent arc at any of said contacts releasing said switch to interrupt the low tension circuit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 454,746 Leonard June 23, 1891 645,588 Doddridge Mar. 20, 1900 1,662,114 Hotchner Mar. 13, 1928 1,735,907 Mitchell Nov. 19, 1929 1,884,789 McCombes Oct. 25, 1932 2,041,114 Carini Mar. 19, 1936 2,056,118 Basse Sept. 29, 1936 2,167,750 Hale Aug. 1, 1939 2,352,664 Stevenson et a1. July 4, 1944 2,423,814 Mettler July 8, 1947 2,809,256 Bullinger Oct. 8, 1957 

